For many years, protectors have been secured to the corners of manufactured articles such as appliances, electronic articles and doors, prior to such articles being packaged to protect the corners and other surfaces of such articles from damage during handling and shipment. A type of corner protector currently in use is made of corrugated paper-board or paper honeycomb material and is supplied to the manufacturer of the articles to be packaged in flat form. The corner protector is thereafter folded by the manufacturer, then taped, glued or stapled so that it remains folded, and then it is applied to the corners of the article to be shipped.
A problem associated with the use of this type of corner protector is that it requires as extra manufacturing step, i.e., taping, gluing, or stapling during the folding operation, and that it has a tendency to unfold and fall off the article prior to the article being packaged, thus complicating and unnecessarily decreasing the efficiency of the packing operation. Thus, there remains a need for a corner protector which does not require taping, gluing, or stapling during the folding operation and which will not unfold and fall off the corner of the article prior to or during packaging of the article.
In addition, corrugated cardboard which was previously used requires several layers to provide the needed thickness for protecting the article. This made such protectors difficult and relatively costly to use. Accordingly, what is needed is a protector thick enough and having a cushioning effect to protect the object. The protector should be easy to assemble without the need of other materials. The present invention meets these desires.